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Friends: Colo. boy charged in killings ‘good kid’

BURLINGTON — The 12-year-old boy was described by friends as a wholesome kid who often volunteered at church, handing out bulletins, working audio and video equipment and helping other kids learn Bible verses.

They said he showed no outward signs of family problems.

Then, police say, the boy did the unthinkable, allegedly killing his parents and wounding two of his younger siblings in a case that has rattled this rural farming and ranching community of 3,700 near the Kansas border.

Police say they discovered the attacks Tuesday after the boy called 911 to report a shooting.

When officers arrived, they found the bodies Charles and Marilyn Long, who had been fatally shot. Two of the couple’s children — a 5-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy — were wounded.

The 12-year-old boy was then taken into custody, stunning friends and neighbors.

District attorney Robert Watson said Thursday he plans to file two counts of first-degree murder and other charges against him by the end of Friday. He hasn’t decided whether to try to prosecute the boy as an adult.

Tom Ward, a public defender representing the boy, declined to comment.

Charles and Marilyn Long, who were in their early 50s, had seven children; four of them are grown and no longer live at home. Marilyn Long homeschooled her kids and ran the children’s ministry at the local Evangelical Free Church. Her husband served as an elder there.